


What I Feel

by heroesheaven



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Oneshot, POV First Person, aren't i a weanie?, i actually cried while writing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 22:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7125298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heroesheaven/pseuds/heroesheaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My interpretation of Wind Waker's endgame, somewhat improvised. Written from Link's point of view.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What I Feel

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive me for writing this when I told my readers to wait for Monday for an update. I have a week until E3 and I wanted to get in the Zelda mood, so I decided to write about only the best game in the series that gives me feelings. It's just a oneshot, so I'm justified, right? I didn't put too much thought into it, so there's my excuse. Multi chaps need lots of thinking time. This thing didn't. 
> 
> I hope all y'all enjoy it anyways.

I’m amazed at what I see. Behind a magical barrier are fields of grass, mountains, villages… they look like someplace I was supposed to be. Looking at the field, I feel like that was where Aryll and I were supposed to play on lazy Sundays, picking flowers and putting them in each other’s hair. Looking at the mountains, I feel like a group of people I would eventually befriend on my adventures would live there. Looking at the villages, I feel like smiling faces would welcome me to my home away from home after a long battle I fought to rescue them. I press my hands to the dark purple veil, trying to get a better glimpse of this world. I immediately pull them back- the magic stung my hands and it felt most unpleasant. Then I remember the glistening sword on my back. “This is the blade of evil’s bane; you must use it to defeat the strongest of enemies you encounter, young hero,” the King of Red Lions, or rather the King of Hyrule, Daphnes is his name, told me once I rescued the last sage and prayed to the gods for their blessing. I figure that if it can defeat enemies made of evil, it can get rid of walls made of evil. My left hand wraps around the handle and I slowly slide it out of the fancy sheath tied to my back. I look up, expecting to see the sky even though I know it’s not there. Instead I see water, reminding me why I’m here. I prepare myself to break the barrier keeping me from moving forward.  


The fluid like veil shatters like glass, and I press forward. I don’t put my sword away- there are monsters ahead. I defeated them and now I stand in front of the entrance to Ganondorf’s castle, which looks more like a cave to me. I take one last look over the landscape and back up to the ocean above it. I tell myself that I will explore those fields, mountains, and villages, but only after the threat is extinguished. Despite my shaking hands and racing pulse, I take my first step into the lair. “I am here to find Princess Zelda. I am here to save the land of Hyrule.” The name “Zelda” is foreign to me, and so is the title “Princess”, or at least to whom the title now belongs to. If it were up to me, and I’m sure she would agree, I would still call her Captain Tetra, but it isn’t up to me what she’s called in this place. In Hyrule, Tetra is a princess who holds the Triforce of Wisdom, and I am a hero who holds the Triforce of Courage. Our personal preferences are ignored in the land protected by the gods. Thinking about Tetra keeps me distracted as I’m fighting monsters almost mechanically. I only stop to think about my surroundings when I absolutely must, and one of those times is now. I stand in front of a large door with four symbols glowing on its face. I have already defeated the magical copies of previous monsters I defeated what feels like forever ago, when I was still on the ocean and very confused. The door opens and today I am not confused about what I am doing.  


After I solve a puzzle, the King of Red Lions appears in the pool in the center of the room. I am glad to see him and I give him a hug around his neck. Because he is simply a spirit possessing a wooden sail boat, he is cold and inorganic. My hug is returned with words of affirmation, but I wish I could hug him and feel like I am hugging the warm, living, human Daphnes that he was hundreds of years ago. He is like the father I never had growing up, or at least the 12 years of growing up I did before Aryll was kidnapped and I set out on a blind adventure. Daphnes instructs me what to do next, and I pick up the Light Arrows that appeared along with him. Getting in the boat and sailing forward, I anticipate meeting Ganondorf again. Our previous encounters were cut short, but they were long enough for me to develop an opinion about him. I thought he was inconsiderate and greedy for control, I thought he was old and grumpy, and I thought poorly of his choices. King Daphnes sometimes told me about his past, too. Right now I am in Hyrule, and Hyrule is underwater because of Ganondorf. He is the reason I grew up on an island in the ocean instead of in one of those villages I saw earlier; the reason I have memories of being pinched by crabs and hiding under the sheets of my top bunk in my small house next the beach when a particularly nasty hurricane hit our island, he is the reason I spent my childhood wishing to explore when I knew I couldn’t because of the massive body of water that left me isolated from the world instead of having a world to explore by foot, a world where I could go anywhere I wanted because there were no rouge waves that turned the biggest pirate ships into permanent homes for fish underwater. I reason with myself that even if I grew up in Hyrule, I would want to see an ocean that didn’t exist, but I remain stubborn anyways. The King of Red Lions and I are now entering a dark room. I focus on what lies ahead.  


We are in shallow water, so I get out and take a few steps forward in the dimly lit room. The center light is focused on a nice bed that is surrounded by a sheer curtain. I see Tet- Zelda sleeping soundly on her back. She really looks like a princess that way, with the blankets folded nicely over her and the canopy around the bed, but something inside me tells me that something is wrong. We are in a dim room, water goes up to my ankles, and there is a fancy bed in a castle full of disgusting monsters and gross illusions. I also know for fact that Tetra doesn’t sleep like that; she is a pirate captain and like a pirate she is sloppy in every way except for fighting, lying, and because she is a good captain, leadership. I’ve seen her bed in the captain’s quarters before, and I can conclude that she is a restless sleeper and does not make her bed. With all the signs pointing towards foul play, I go with my gut and decide that something is very wrong. My sword and shield are on my back, but I remain ready to fight at any given moment. I wait for something to happen.  


Not a moment longer my suspicions are confirmed when a large hand strokes her forehead. Ganondorf is standing over her on the other side of the bed, and he is saying something about something or other. My grandma says I’m a selective listener, and right now she is right. I don’t like Ganondorf, and I know he’s crazy, so I block out his words and let my mind wander somewhere else until he is finished. He grabs my attention again when I hear a horrible cracking sound. I look up to see he has taken a step back so I only see a silhouette of his form. The horrible noise originated from him, and he is taking another form by grotesquely breaking every bone in his body to do so. I remember Daphnes telling me how the Hero of Time witnessed him change from a man to a beast, but I never considered what that looked like. I hope this wasn’t it. The illusion of Princess Zelda disappears and the room brightens up, allowing me to see what has become of Ganondorf. He is a beast like Daphnes described to me, but he is made of wood and attached to the ceiling by several strings. I panicked at first, but soon regained composure after figuring out what to do. I ended up fighting him for nearly an hour, using my Light Arrows and consequently my limited knowledge of magic. He changed his form twice and finally fell. I am exhausted now, physically from fighting five large monsters one right after another, magically from using so much of it to charge the Light Arrows (“You should have used your Fire and Ice arrows more often to get used to it!” I mentally smacked myself), and mentally from comprehending the situation at hand. I am very tired but Ganondorf is still alive and I have not found Princess Zelda in the flesh yet.  


I adventured a little bit farther before finding the offender in a room overlooking Hyrule’s natural beauty. I was smacked down and cast to the side by the surprisingly strong elder, but after all, he does possess the Triforce of Power. I had to pinch myself to keep from falling asleep, and Ganondorf began to speak. Right now, I am fighting to stay awake and I know I cannot let my mind wander again: I have to listen to his words in order to survive. It surprises me after I digest his words- I had never listened to him closely in the past but I am now and I feel terrible. I had left Daphnes behind, so he cannot influence my opinion in this moment. Ganondorf told me about Hyrule and where he was from. He explained that in the desert, which I never heard of before but understood to be a dry place of suffering, he grew up jealous of Hyrule. The wind brought life to Hyrule but death to the desert, and even after praying to the gods, they left Ganondorf and his people, the extinct race Gerudo, to suffer forever. He explained to me that he did not want to kill me or do any harm; he simply needed all three pieces of the Triforce to have his wish granted and I happened to have one. Right now I am exhausted and I feel sympathy for Ganondorf. Right now I forget the kidnapping of my sister, the destruction of Greatfish Isle, and the murder of Laruto and Fado are all because of Ganondorf. Right now I feel terrible for fighting on the side opposite of him: we both want to resurrect Hyrule, right? Isn’t that what I came to defeat him for? I’m confused and I feel betrayed.  


When he asks, I try to nod and let him take my Triforce, but something in me snaps and I shake my head no. I realize that I can’t hand over what I worked so hard to obtain, something I couldn’t do without being me. I am the Hero of Winds, successor to the legendary Hero of Time, and I cannot hand over one of the things that makes me me. Ganondorf holds a thin blade to my neck and I roll away to avoid death. I realize that like my heroic ancestor, I have to fight. I do fight, but I am a mess. I cannot concentrate and I wonder if everything I am doing is wrong, if the Hero of Time was wrong, and if the gods are even all the good Hyrule claims they are. The gods preferred Hyrule, so Hyrule’s king would assume they’re good, wouldn’t he? Does a king not consider another country’s struggle? Have I been lied to and used? Even if I surrendered to Ganondorf now, I know he would still kill me, but I don’t want to fight. My sloppy sword skills make my months of using one all for nothing, and my enemy’s large size makes his acrobatics a surprise. Together, they made a bad setup for me and in a short time, I am at sword point again. I look into Ganondorf’s eyes. They are not crazy like I previously thought of him, but nor are they depressed like I thought of him a moment ago. The old Gerudo king is bitter, and in the moment I am prepared to die because I know that a bitter soul will not hold back.  


I shut my eyes tight and I know I am dead. Except I’m not dead, and I’m no longer pinned to the stone floor by the threat of a sword. I hear my enemy yelp in pain, and my eyes snap open to see he is no longer above me. I stand up and see the elder pulling an arrow from his shoulder, and behind him with the Light Arrows and a bow I probably dropped earlier- Tetra! Or Princess Zelda, still. I’m glad to see her and I smile, but only for a second before Ganondorf launches a powerful magic attack that sends me back to laying on the floor. My left hand suddenly writhes in horrible pain that I have never felt before in my dangerous adventures, and I realize what’s happening. The golden triangle that I spent a month searching for rose from my hand and into Ganondorf’s cupped palms. Zelda’s Triforce of Wisdom is there too, and Ganondorf is finally able to do what he spent hundreds of years in waiting to do. Opposite to the side of the round arena all three of us are on, three giant triangles that looked similar to one of the smaller ones I previously possessed assembled itself into a certain arrangement. With Power on top of Wisdom, next to Courage, we recognized it as the real Triforce. I panic, worried what will happen, mad at myself for letting this happen as well as considering giving my piece away in the first place, and wonder. I wonder what Ganondorf’s wish is but I’m sure it’s to revive Hyrule, right? I also worry what will happen when Hyrule is revived. During his speech, I was concentrating on the world below the waves and not a concern for the world above it. What will happen to the populous Windfall Island? What about the forests the Koroks hoped to plant on those small isles? What about Tetra’s ship? Aryll is on that ship, and if the ocean suddenly disappears, will she be ok? All of these emotions buzz around in my head and suddenly they stop. Daphnes appears and touches the Triforce, claiming the wish for himself. Ganondorf knows it is too late, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. We wait for the Hyrule King’s wish.  


“I wish Hyrule to be destroyed for good.” His words shock me. I have so many questions but now is not the time to ask. I still have to defeat Ganondorf and Zelda is here to help me, I force myself to get up. The shield protecting the remaining Hyrule bursts like a bubble and water is pouring down around the arena and slowly flooding the ancient kingdom wholly. We clash swords again, and I have to keep myself focused on the duel if I want to live. I can’t wonder about the gods, Daphnes, Ganondorf, or Hyrule at all right now. It is going to disappear for better or for worse and I can’t help that. Ganondorf’s two slim blades easily over powered me before, but now we are even. Two against two. While I distract him, Zelda uses the Light Arrows to stun him, and I go for an attack while he is down. I now expect his acrobatics, but now I also use my small size to quickly evade his attacks. For a moment when we parry each other’s swords, I look into his eyes again. His bitterness is now rage. I wonder what he sees in my eyes. Reckless courage? Probably not in this moment. I am stunned by Daphnes wish and now I just want to get this over with. Ganondorf probably sees concentration in my eyes, or a will to not die. It strikes me that he’s not looking into my eyes at all; he’s looking into the eyes of the spirit of the hero, the same soul that lived in the Hero of Time. No wonder why he’s so mad.  


The raised arena is now surrounded by a pool of salt water; if I took a step too far back I would be swimming at the same level of the floor. We don’t have much time left. Zelda fires the last arrow, using as much magic as she can, which is far more than I could ever hope to use. The powerful attack knocks Ganondorf to his knees, and I seek to end the battle at this time. I rush towards him and jump high enough to sink the blade of evil’s bane deep into his skull. He looks up at the last moment, oddly smirking at me. I grimace, ashamed of the damage I just dealt despite knowing that it was over. I leave the sword in him as I jump down, and I see his body start to turn to stone. “The wind… the wind is blowing!” His last words confuse me. I feel terrible for causing so much pain to an individual; all the monsters I fought never had any intelligence, not even the Moblins that Ganondorf trusted to guard the Forsaken Fortress had any unique attributes that made them a little bit human. The Helmaroc King was a trained animal, and the monsters that caused Valoo’s pain, kidnapped Makar, and infiltrated the Earth and Wind temples were just that- monsters. Ganondorf was the only intelligent life I have killed, and I feel like a murderer. The mental stress of that combined with my physical exhaustion from the previous battles make me stagger. Zelda rushes over to support me, and she leads me to see King Daphnes for the last time. I want to ask him why, but I can’t get a word out of my mouth, and I instead end up sobbing. He had warned me before crossing the teleport to Hyrule Castle that the fight would not be something I should look forward to, but I didn’t expect it to be this horrendous. I expected to feel victorious and like a hero, not drained and like a disgusting murderer.  


Daphnes explains that Hyrule’s time is over and that it should have been over a long time ago. He admits that in the beginning, he and Ganondorf had the same goal: revive Hyrule. Throughout taking me across the ocean to various places, he realized that the Great Sea is the former Hylians’ home now. All of our struggles were caused by Ganondorf, and without him, all the humans, ex-Hylians, the Rito tribe, the Koroks, and even the few remaining Gorons would not have been put through all that we have. He apologizes to me and to Tetra for getting us involved. I don’t need an apology; I need him to stay with us. I see his spirit slowly fading. The water is up to my waist. He begins to bid us farewell; because of his desire to stay with his kingdom, he is grounded to the bottom of the ocean. I’m no longer sobbing now; I am full out crying. I don’t care right now; I just want to be with him a little bit longer. I’m not ready to say goodbye. The water is up to my shoulders and I stand on my tiptoes. In those last few moments, he uses the rest of his wish to send us safely back to the surface. He promises us that we will find a new Hyrule. The water closes over our heads, but magic shields keep Tetra and I surrounded with enough oxygen to see us safely home. We start to be carried away by a strong current. I reach my hand out to Hyrule’s King but he hesitates. When he does return my action, it is too late. There is just enough distance between our hands that we cannot touch. He puts his arm back down, but I still reach for him even though I can’t stay with him, nor can he come with me. The last thing I see is Daphnes lower his head, then it is dark. That was the last time I would ever see my father figure.  


___  


That was six years ago. I wanted to go to photography school on Windfall Island, but Aryll and Grandma advised me not to; although I loved photography, I had too much energy to sit all day in a class, and my thirst for adventure would never be quenched. I decided to formally join Tetra’s crew. My island family that I wasn’t actually related to, aka everyone on Outset Island who wasn’t my grandma or my sister, was shocked by my decision to become a pirate, but Aryll knew for a fact that they weren’t all that bad and Grandma trusted Captain Tetra. My main reason for joining was to explore and find New Hyrule, but also for Tetra’s companionship. She was the only one who understood what I went through because she had been to Hyrule and helped me in the final battle for its fate. I joined her crew a small three weeks after we returned to the Great Sea. Six years ago I began as the lowest rung of the ladder of pirate hierarchy, the swabbie. Today I am eighteen years old, and still a swabbie. I don’t mind, though. It means I have less responsibility and more tedious jobs that I could get over with and spend the rest of my time bugging the crew. Niko and I often did so.  


I have been on the water for six years and during that time we have not found New Hyrule. Instead, I swabbed decks, cleaned canons, clashed swords with unruly pirates, washed dishes, cooked gross food, and made beds. Tetra and I also counted exactly two months we were away in make believe land, but nobody believes us. The only proof we have is that ship that follows us from a distance every now and then- the S.S Linebeck. They don’t believe that either. According to them, we disappeared in thin air for fifteen minutes and randomly came back. The captain tugged their ears for not believing our story. We haven’t docked the ship since then, so the S.S Linebeck hasn’t had the time to catch up to us. I look forward to the day Linebeck boards our ship so he can confirm everything that happened, as well as Tetra bossing him around. He was my captain for a while, but he sure was a shitty one. I can’t wait for Tetra to put him in his place!  


Today I am careening the ship as punishment for hiding an egg under Tetra’s covers. That one action counted as two offenses, sneaking into Captain’s Quarters and childish behavior. The ship needed a good barnacle removal anyways. So here I am hanging off the side of the ship, being held up by a grappling hook, getting my hands filthy from trying to yank off sea life from the bow. Niko is supposed to be holding the other end of the rope in case the hook slips, but I feel him nearly drop me into the ocean. I yell at him but he tells me to climb up. Nobody says anything so I work on climbing back onto the deck. Once I’m up there, Tetra hands me a spy glass and I look through it. I see… is that what I think it is? I rush to climb into the crow’s nest to get a better look. I feel certain. Our exploration is coming to an end. I am excited.  


“Is that what I think it is?”  


“Yes! It is! It is! Keep going that way!”

**Author's Note:**

> The Wind Hero is my fave because I feel like he really struggled towards the end because it was the first time I feel like he really heard what Ganondorf was saying. Throughout the adventure, he didn't know what was going on or why he needed the Pearls, but he did it anyways to save Aryll. Even after that, he was just doing what Daphnes told him, blindly running through temples with his buds. I think G'dorf was just manipulating him because he knows he is vulnerable, but Link's confusion really sets him apart from most other heroes. Basically, I love my Wind baby and wanted to write from his point of view.
> 
> Comments and kudos inspire me to write more things like this, so don't hesitate to say something nice!


End file.
